Jason B
, Australia

"Carnival Spirit, 10 nights South Pacific"

We just returned from the Pacific Islands 10 night cruise (May 2014) on Carnival Spirit, who our two children 8 & 10.
First cruise for all of us and we really enjoyed it. Good food, great staff (from waiters, bar staff and Cabin Stewards) and things were very well organised when it came to boarding and disembarking the ship, whether it was the 4 ports of call or when boarding in Sydney and returning.
Carnival have staggered check in times where you pick your preferred time to board, (not sure if other ships do it, but Iâ€™m told Carnival are the only ones) and it works a treat. We turned up about 45mins before our check in time with our bags already tagged & our luggage was taken off our hands for us outside the Passenger Terminal. That frees you up to walk around for a while without all the main luggage while waiting for your check in time. When that time came it was all very efficient and we were on the ship in under 30 mins.
Same with disembarking at the ports of call. Thereâ€™s a tendering system where you go and collect a numbered ticket when youâ€™re ready to go and theyâ€™ll call your number when the tender boat is ready. We never waited more than 20mins. They run about 4 tender boats constantly ferrying people to the islands, you turn up when called and the boat is waiting for you.
Food ranged from good to excellent (never had a bad meal)
Buffet has a wide variety ( too much to list here, but itâ€™s good quality), you can have anything from the usual hot food right through to a salad bar, fresh Pizzas made to order (24/7) and sandwich bar where theyâ€™ll make fresh wraps to order or a simple toasted sandwich. Also 24/7 ice-cream by the pools.
Empire Dining room for Main evening meal also good to excellent. Some meals were better than others, but never a bad one. Waiter staff are very attentive and professional. If turning up for a pre-selected dining time (either 5.30 or 7.45pm) youâ€™re looked after straight away. The first night our kids ordered some drinks and the next night when we tuned up, the drinks were already there waiting for them. Little things like that which impressed us. When you do order, itâ€™s never more than 10-15 mins for each meal to come out.
Some great entertainment as well during the meal, usually just after everyoneâ€™s mains. Some of the waiter staff sang on a number of nights and they were brilliant, with all the waiter staff dancing as well. Iâ€™ve read some reviews where people described it as â€˜annoyingâ€™- some people are obviously hard to please no matter what! What it did offer was a great atmosphere and was never overdone, it made the evening even more enjoyable
Breakfast you can also have in the Empire Room (where youâ€™re waited on) or head up to Deck 9 to the Buffet which we did most mornings. Having breakfast at the buffet means being able to enjoy the wide ocean views while having a big breakfast! Once again a large variety as well as fresh omelettes made to order
Great deck side BBQ as well (Fat Jimmyâ€™s) at lunch time, with really nice food.
We also had dinner one night in the 5 star Nouveau Restaurant up on Deck 10. Thatâ€™s an additional charge at $40/head, but great value for 4 courses and the food is EXCELLENT. Itâ€™s worth doing at least 1 night there.
Beer (close to schooner size) average $8 a beer, cocktails around $10, kids Mocktails $6 and softdrinks $2.25 each (large). Best value though is to buy the kids soft drink package at $5.50 day and its unlimited refills. We didnâ€™t let our kids drink soft drink non-stop, but if they had one throughout the day and 1 at dinner, plus the odd extra here and there, the $5.50 day is well worth it. If we fancied a soft drink as well, weâ€™d simply have one of the kids go up and get it for us. You can buy the adultâ€™s soft drink package at $7.50 day, but why bother when you can have one of the kids go on an undercover mission and get you a soft drink as part of their deal!
Cabins were serviced twice daily if you leave your little service request thingy on the door, so we always came back to a tidy cabin. Nice hot showers with good water pressure in the cabins as well!
Pay the extra and get a balcony, itâ€™s nice to have the fresh air and the ability to sit outside and take in the views in privacy every now and then.
Try to avoid booking shore excursions on board the ship and do your own thing, as theyâ€™re notoriously expensive. The Mele Cascades for eg is about 20 mins out of Port Villa & is a fantastic must see, however if you book on board youâ€™ll be charged $86 AUD /adult and $56/child to book the ships tour.
We caught a taxi when we arrived in Port Villa (theyâ€™re all there waiting for you looking for your business) and paid a total $80 Aud for the 4 of us. For that our friendly Taxi driver â€˜Maxâ€™ drove us through town pointing out some sights and took us all the way to the falls. We did have to pay our entry to the falls when we arrived ($25 AUD/adult, $15/child), but still saved us $120 in total compared to booking an â€˜organised tourâ€™ on the ship. He then waited 2.5 hours for us while we walked up and swam, then took us to a local village ( not the one they sell on the ship) where we had our own personal tour and tribal dance. He then took us back into town and dropped us off while we had a look around the local markets. We made our own way back to the ship for $15 for the 4 of us on one of the local mini buses that keep passing through town offering you trips back to the ship.
Mystery Island & Lifou mainly consisted of swimming and snorkelling- but both very nice spots. Beautiful clear water. Once again you can pay for some local tours once on the islands, but we didnâ€™t bother. Lifou you can walk up to the old Church as well as a great look out, and then head back to the main beach and swim (for free). There is a coral snorkelling are on the back side of the island which is a protected reserve, which you need to book tickets for on the ship ($18.50/adult), spoke to some people who did it and said it was beautiful.
The only tour we booked on board was the yellow â€˜Choo Chooâ€™ train tour of Noumea- manly because the kids wanted to do it. This was the only one of the 4 port days where we booked a tour. It was expensive at $199 for the 4 of us, but was actually quite good. It was 2hrs in duration, picked you up and returned you to the ship ( we chose to get off in town on the way back) showed us all of the main sights of Noumea with a couple of â€˜look outâ€™ stops and also included fresh pastries and cold drinks at one of the stops. The guide was also informative. BUTâ€”hereâ€™s a tip. Get on the free shuttle bus that Carnival operates to take you from the main port (itâ€™s a container terminal) into the Visitors Centre in town ( about a 5min drive) and you can book a â€˜green trainâ€™ tour from there, that does exactly the same thing for just over half the price! We only discovered that after booking the one on board the ship. The green train tour is a little shorter at 1.5 hours and doesnâ€™t include the snacks as far as I could tell, but is the extra 30mins and snacks worth the extra $$?? We would have done that if weâ€™d known. Otherwise catch the townâ€™s shuttle bus where you can jump on and off for about 10-15 bucks a person I think.
On our last day at sea we did the â€˜Behind the Fun tourâ€™, which is 3 hours long and takes you through a lot of the restricted areas of the ship (including the theatre, Galley â€“ where you get to enjoy freshly baked pastries, Engine Control room, staff quarters, food stores) and finally the Bridge, where we got to meet the Captain, had our photographs taken with him and had the opportunity to ask questions. At $95/person it is expensive- but worth every cent. If you plan on doing it, book it on the first day, as theyâ€™re limited (only 2 tours on the last 2 sea days) and they sell out quick.
Would we do another Carnival cruise?- absolutely
If youâ€™re high maintenance and need constant entertainment than maybe a cruise isnâ€™t your thing, but if youâ€™re happy to chill out and take it easy for a while, taking in in the cruise experience and slowing down your pace a little while out at sea on the non-port days, then youâ€™ll enjoy yourself.
Having said that though, thereâ€™s still plenty of activities arranged every day and you can do as little or as much as you want. Eli the Cruise director was very informative & good humoured. Communication on board was always excellent, keeping guests informed on the where, what & how of things to ensure everything ran smoothly.
Some fun pool side competitions as well, on our last sea day we had a live ice sculpture demonstration by the pool
Complaints? None really. The only minor ones would be the pre-cooked toast at the buffet was like rock! Thereâ€™s toasters scattered around so you can cook your own toast, but not enough of them. All the fantastic sweets on offer seemed to disappear from the buffet around 2.30-300pm, and then re-appear around dinner time. So if you fancy afternoon tea by the pool later in the day, grab some before the buffet closes. The Empire Room though did have â€˜Tea Timeâ€™ which was 3-4pm, we didnâ€™t get to that but assume that was a cake/coffee/afternoon tea type of thing.
We had a great time and for the money was very good value. We look forward to the next one!

Janine E
, Australia

"Absolutely Amazing "

Our family had a blast , carnival think of everything. The staff all over the ship were amazing ,so friendly and helpful. Entertainment was great . Soooooooo much food and yum. This was my family's 1st cruise and we can't wait to book again. We did isle of pines, lifou, noumea and mystery island OMG so beautiful what a way to holiday . Loved it

Raymond D
, Australia

"First time - ready for next NOW!"

What a great way to holiday. So relaxing. The ship was so clean and staff so happy and friendly. I expected sea sickness but was fine - do not let that thought stop you from cruising. A brilliant departure leaving from next to the Sydney harbour bridge & the Opera House. We had a balcony room - so great waking up to a different island or port each day. I recommend going to discussion sessions on what to do on board, excursions, etc. as you learn a lot which in turn makes your cruise more enjoyable. Our cruise finished one week ago & have been looking for our next one eve since - would go again tomorrow.

Sonya W
, Australia

"Exceeded expectations "

Carnival Spirit exceeded our cruising expectations from the moment we checked-in! They have a free onboard app to plan our days which we could add events to a planner that would alert us to our selected events, these events ranged from wellbeing seminars, trivias, bands, comedian, sales, art auctions and the list goes on. We enjoyed the various bars which all had signature cocktails, the bands and singers were fabulous and even took requests. The food was in abundance, from the free eateries to the fine dining we were catered for no matter our tastes or desires, offering gluten free and vegetarian options. The crew and staff are amazing, so helpful, friendly and always up for a chat and a laugh. No wonder we had cruising withdrawals! Carnival, you will definitely be seeing us again!!

Barrie
, Australia

"Amazing carnival cruise "

The Carnival spirit is my first cruise and was beyond what I had expected. Upon arrival I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the crew aboard. Throughout my time aboard i was well looked after and all i had to do was relax. Everything was well thought out, including a handy itinerary of daily activities that was delivered to my room. The food on board was great - both at the buffet and restaurants - no complaints there. The staff at the restaurants were very accommodating, namely Ekadana, Putu and Trisna. They were very friendly and professional and most importantly gave great service. Further the restaurant was impeccable as was the rest of the ship.
On board activities were fun and ongoing throughout the day. They were always entertaining. Entertainment at the Pharoh's palace was good, but it would have been better to see something different other than singing most nights. It was great to see a lot of variety in the on board duty free shops; it was money well spent. Note to self: buying lots of cheap gifts adds up to big money!
The islands of New Caledonia was an enjoyable experience. There was no need to book tours to experience what the islands had to offer A bus trip around each island and time spent among the white sand beaches were enough to satisfy an insatiable appetite for paradise. The locals, natives and foods were absolutely devine.
Overall the cruise was a delight and it was well worth the money. I have come back refreshed and would happily go on this same cruise line again.